>> it's a tricky question, and that's going to matter a lot for natural gas. no one mentioned nuclear yet in the institution. >> yeah, i'd like to. if there's questions, i want to get to nuclear in a second, but, vivian, to what extent does the development world ham strung by resource shortages, you mentioned renewables need to be cross international boundaries. is there an economic incentive to develop fuels, and do they have enough like africa or india? >> well, it varies a lot depending on the country. i mean, one of the exciting developments in recent years has been the huge gas discoveries in africa, actually. nigeria and angola are major producers, but mozambique came from nowhere to be a major producer changing the problem for africa in terms of changing to fossil fuels in the energy

transition. not only is natural gas attractive, but for the local pollution is minimal compared to coal which is also a domestic pollution issue in india and china. there's a lot of scope for moving in that direction. >> right. that's a big issue for china 6789 that's one reason why rob projects they will come down. it's not just greenhouse gas purposes, but china is choking on its coal fumes; right? i think they recognize that's a public health issue, that that's -- and, i mean, there's some days, i guess, industries -- >> that is true. i actually taught in pittsburgh for some time at carnegie melon, and you go to the top of the cliff to overlook pittsburgh and the station on the railroad, there was a picture of pittsburgh at noon, january something 1919, and it was pitch black, streetlights were on.

it was horrible. >> right. >> one thing to keep in mind, there's a real synergy between local pollution issues and the global concerns related to greenhouse gases, but as the u.s. demonstrated, it is possible to separate those in the sense that putting on scrubbers for sulfer dioxide and nitrogen oxide and many things that in some cases are installed in china, but for interesting reasons are not turned on -- a whole other story -- but those, you know, at one level, it's true you can quote-on-quote solve the problems by going from a dirtier fuel to a cleaner fuel, but it is possible to solve the local pollution problems, do something about the local pollution problems and remaining with coal which would be unwelcome from greenhouse gas perspective, but one should be, you know, there's also a desire

in addition to the gap of state preference and reveals preference a desire to identify lots of win-win solutions, and sometimes, you know, the twins are not quite siamese or attached to each other, and the issue of greenhouse gas pollution are not, you know, should not be conflated. >> let's take a question. please, introduce qowrs and ask the question. >> i'm mike, mike wright, i live in pennsylvania, and i work locally at telework, actually, most of the time, so hopefully that comes when -- helps when it comes to greenhouse gases. i don't believe natural gas is as beneficial as is advertised when it comes to greenhouse gases. i mean, there's sightings showing there's upstream carbon

emissions in coal even because of the energy it takes to extract the gas, and i guess that goes to unconventional oil as well. unconventional oil is more carbon intensive than traditional oil. the question with that is in the grand scheme and in the 2040 plan, does -- do those increased carbon emissions, even though they stayed level, but you use unconventional fuels, does that increase in carbon? is that accounted for in any of these studies? getting the impression not because you're not looking at carbon in the study, and the second question has to do with supply and demand. wouldn't it make more sense -- wouldn't it serve some of the developing countries better, the ones that are actually impacted greater by greenhouse gases and

climate change by increasing energy efficiency beyond just doubling mileage in cars, but going even beyond that in our own country and looking at the demand and the consumption of energy. in many cases, every day i see ways we could save energy simply by, for example, adjusting the thermostats, not using the drier, not leaving cars running. people aren't doing that. the only way to do that and what economists have said is increase the price of carbon. increase what it costs to use fossil fuels, and that will automatically change people's behavior because you don't say it's a good idea or that saves the planet. that will not work. what's your response? >> the second question, and rob can take on the first one. is this energy the end of the pipe? when you're looking at it, how much energy goes into getting us this energy?

>> well, we take account of the energy required to produce fuels and the raw sources of energy. we track it within the industrial energy segment, and we actually watch that very carefully because it's part of the business that we're in. we look at that, and we track that, and understand that the trends of the efficiency in there. recent studies, like, by the university of texas regarding shale gas developments and upstream emissions, i think, is working on the issue to clarify that actually some of the statements that people have made are not true, and maybe those emissions are not as high as people thought. the -- in the case of unconventional oil, i think efficiency steps around the operations or making those more efficient. the world uses a wide range of oils from around the world, and we take into account all of those emissions and all of those in the forecast. >> right, and i guess what the

questioner was referring to a little bit was how much methane leaks, and it's not necessarily burning it. it's the methane going in the atmosphere, a potent gas. the study from texas that looked at a small slice of the picture and so far it's not a catastrophic issue, but they are continuing to research that. david, did you want to take on the second part of the question? >> sure. i agree with the questioner, whatever scenario you look at, energy efficiency usually comes out of the biggest potential contributor to addressing global climate change concerns, and that's true whether it's the developed world or developing world, but one of the sort of dilemmas on efficiencies is a low hangs fruit. these measures are self-financing, better off if we applieded energy efficiency? why doesn't it happen in practice?

that's the the problem we face. there's aspects to it, and one was mentioned by pricing, and there's two sides to that. one is don't subsidize fossil fuels, and the other is extraalty pricing to show the price of carbon and other global pollutants because the higher return to the higher efficiency investments. i think the other issue is standard so we could be much more aggressive in, you know, requiring standards for efficient appliances, efficient building codes, ect., but, actually, another major challenge is finance. in many parts of the world, in the developing world, industries may want to make investments to improve efficiency, but banks are not willing to lend. this is a rather unconventional proposition, where's the collateral? how do i assess this is a good investment or not? >> i had that problem. i could not get a loan for solar panels. i needed creative financing for that. >> okay.

you understand what we're up against. we have a number of projects working with banks in the developing world. we provide a credit line, and we also provide tech anial assistance and capacity building so the bank employees can learn how to assess these projects and figure out whether or not they are a good investment, and we provide finance to try to basically kick start markets, and if we do enough of that, actually, it then becomes self-sustaining. it's a huge issue. there's a problem around the low hanging fruit. having said that, i think in the developing world, because of the size of the unmet energy needs are met, we can't get there. in the world we can contribute a lot, partly with the curb being flat because the rate at which demand is growing, it's small compared to what we can deliver through energy efficiency. it's managing to keep the curb flat. in the developing world, you know, it can flatten the curb a built, but that curb still is going up. we have to think about the expandability of what's going in

place. >> thank you. a question from here. >> yes, i'm from the safe foundation. since this presentation, you didn't touch upon the prices with a ten-foot pole. only the last question you addressed some of it. two weeks ago, i drove from here in washington all the way to ottawa, canada, and i saw a price scenario at least with oil, and, like, in the united states right close to the border, it was 3.60, and just after you crossed the border, it goes 6.50, 6.70, and now the canadian and u.s. dollar are almost equal so now -- >> is that a price per liter difference or gallon? >> gallon. they just estimated it, the liter price is different. >> wow. >> they use the same conversion

for the u.s. gallon. >> i see, okay. >> that's what they told me. that's what it is. so, given that, so, i started using canadian oil as long as i could, and when i crossed into the u.s., i bought a tank full, you know? [laughter] >> go to new jersey. >> if canada is an experiment, obviously, the politicians there have the guts to put the tax -- they repeat everybody, my friends, whoever i talk to, the gas station, we have a high tax, and that's why it's so high, and if that's the case, something happens to the grass -- u.s. is a big consumer, what will it do to the oecd numbers there, and will that bring the biggest

consumer in the oecd market and use those resources in another area? >> again, i think the u.s. has among the oecd countries one of the lowest patches on motor fuels. i think the $6 # in canada, if you went to europe, you know, it would be higher than in most countries. that said, i'm an old person, and people have tried things in the united states in terms of taxation on energy. i remember president george hw bush, had the famous read my lips, no new taxes, and he agreed to a five cents per gallon gasoline tax as part of the budget deal.

i don't know why he was in the reelected. he was not reelected. i'm that's a fact. i remember very well when i was not at eia, a little more involved in the policy process, the clinton-gore administration came in and developed a proposal for a btu tax, which was a pretty substantial energy tax. it was like 25 cents a gallon, a substantial energy tax, and in the end, they did not get it, and, in fact, they got a four cents gasoline tax increase, i think, the last time the federal gasoline tax has been increased. >> it's a political question. you can get over the politics, does that drive down con seemings? >> what do you mean get over the politics? [laughter] what town are you sitting in? i mean, if you were in an alternate universe -- [laughter] >> the decision made that seems to have been made, because, again, no role in the decision, was the focus has been on

dealing with fuel economy standards, a substantial increase. to some extent, that may have driven fuel economy past what people choose at the current gasoline prices. obviously, high gasoline prices you choose greater fuel efficiency so that could be the case you raise gasoline prices, there might not be any change in the cars people buy. there could be a change in the amount people drive, which i think is one of the questions, but you can get a amount people drive through other policies. again, we don't propose them, but change the way people pay for corns. people pay $800,000 a year on car insurance, and if that, you know, right now, it's mostly bought under all-you-can-eat policy where you get the check

at the beginning of the year and drive all you want, and putting that on a per mile basis, you know, versus a gasoline tax, you know, might have a larger effect. you know, we just io soup things. assume poll -- politics don't matter. assume i had a can opener -- [laughter] you have to be real about this stuff, i would think. >> all right. [laughter] >> hi, aaa fellow. my first, i guess my question is mainly aim at vivian, but the sort of second half is for everybody. i have this image in my mind of a lot of the non-oecd countries, and i saw what happened with telecom going from zero and bypassed the way that we did things, and i wonder if there's

some font for them to do something similar with energy or electricity. we seen solar hot water things going on moving rapidly bypassing what we did. can you discuss that a little bit, and i have to say i was discouraged to hear "hydro," and not "solar" in places that could be warm and potentially getting very dry. the other scenario i see with the same people is massive migration, and i wonder if people could talk about how -- what that might look like with an energy or emissions impact going from a third world to a first world very quickly with consumption is all. those are my questions. >> vivian? >> sure. yeah, the revolution invites

comparison, why can't we pull it off with energy? i think it's dray maltic in two ways, and you have to service one subscriber so that was fixed investment, a difficult thing to finance, you know, largely, grammatically reduced, and the other revolution, i think, was the commercial revolution, the prepayment revolution. the fact you buy smart cars, don't pay consumer credit risk, that you could very much administer your own spending, control it very much. it's a combination of the two things that revolutionized t development, and after ray can is an example of that. in the case of energy, you know, we're not -- there is some signs of innovation at the moment, but we're not on the the threshold of that. an example is the program we supportedded at the world bank

coulded liking africa, all about off grid solar products, and it says there's millions of people across the developing world who are disaidz away from seeing a grid-basedded electricity connection, but, actually, by developing these, they come down in cost, to the five to ten dollar range, they have modern lighting after dark with a device held in the hand and charge during the day out in the sun. they take down the regulatory barriers to be imported at low cost into the country and support the quality assurance so consumers know if they spend $5, for them, a fortune, they get a product to deliver a service. it's meant little in terms of investment for us, and yet over a short period of time, we reached 4 million people in africa with the products. this is an example.

we are working with the cell industry, and having power then delivered to the doorstep of villages using charged up batteries charged at the small solar station that supplies the communication towers. we are doing a lot of experimentation, but most in the developing world say it's great to have a solar lantern, a first step on the ladder, but there's a limit on what to do with it. i can't do related applications, but it's a welcomedded way to boost and accelerate a basic level of access, but it's not the whole story, and we still, infortunately, have to work on that much more challenging space of grid based infrastructure. >> one of the examples people bring up for that kind of thing is that what it does enable is better education because people can read at night. are you seeing that? is that a big impact?

>> absolutely. that's a very, very important aspect of it because southern africa can't read in the dark, and it's in the evening like sudan, and so these products make a huge difference for reading and literacy and those things. >> i ask the question if the navajo nation can put massive grid, solar in the the mojave desert areas, why not in africa, and i'll sit and listen. >> sure, we're actively engaged in the solar space. we do rural electrification with solar home systems reaching 2 million people in bangladesh with a successful dealer based cooperative based solar home system model. we also do large scale grid based solar and experimenting with concentrated solar power promising to provide a stable supply of energy because you can actually store the heat in a

concentrated solar power plant so you're less subject to when the sun is actually shining. the technology is exeensive, very much in the experimental stage. the solar costs have come down dramatically, but even so, there's still, in many parts of the world, not competitive with other forms of renewable or conventional energy. they are competitive in rural locations, islands, remote landlocked locations where at the cost of other forms of energy it's much higher, but there's quite a way to go before they compete with other kinds of renewable and conventional energy on the grid. >> the region other renewables banned is relative to everything else is just expense so i goes one thing you -- rob, it's hard to anticipate, but if there could be a technology breakthrough to bring the price

way down, how quickly would you be able to redraw graphs? i mean, you -- it takes a long time to build infrastructure and so on, so are you pri confident by 2040 things look like this, or do you think you could -- if there was a technology revolution, that you could really change the shape much what you see here? >> technology can radically change. the thing is the scale is so large, needs to evolve and have time to accelerate and penetrate. that's a bit of an unknown. there's parallels, but the the cell phone example is a great one. that's a much lower cost -- the individual introduction cost is smaller as well, so the analogy

that does not always transition. clearly, there's a different. we don't assume breakthroughs. you can't in this, but you assume costs come down and become more competitive, solar costs come down, wind costs come down, nuclear costs come down. you assume pieces change, but, still, it remains an investment, a long term investment, and you're talking about -- when you talk about power generation, it's not just the generation system, but the wires that go from here to the consumer, and so the whole infrastructure build out is significant and takes time, takes the right kind of policy environment, the world bank is an expert at this, obviously, because you worked in this in a number of areas, and so we would expect technology to evolve, and as a matter of fact, don't bet against technology. >> right. >> i saw you pull up a graph. do you have a word about that? >> what i say that draws the distinction in areas why demand

is growing fast and areas where demand is not growing very fast is because, you know, in an area of -- say it's not exactly right, there's no growth in electricity demand in the oecd, then in some sense to the extent we stop the drifting plans from falling apart, there's economically viable as long as their fueling costs, available costs alone because the capital cost is already paid, is less than the total cost of the alternatives. that is the difference from this side of the world where the load doubles every eight or nine or ten years, you need a lot of new something, and there it's the new coal against the new solar or new gas competing against the new hydro and so it's one thing to really understand that when we talk about economic competition, you know, there's

often this comparison of technologies, but they are relevant in some circumstances and less relevant in others. there may be other reasons technology is displaced in the united states where the united states -- where the demand is not growing, but the capital plus operating costs of the new technologies will be lower than just the operating cost of the existing. that's a tough hurdle. it can happen. it happened with copper telecommunications, you know, wire and fiberoptics where, basically, it's copper -- telecommunications wire caused global warming, you know, the problem would be solved because they put in fiberoptics as fast as they can because of the technology, the cost, the throughput were so con -- compelling they don't need a

convention in order to install fiberoptics, but, again, you know, it's like the am ji to cell phones. how good is it for energy? because remember the electricity from the old dirty plant when it reaches the house from the wire is just as good indistinguishable from the electricity from the clean renewable technology, you know, even the cleanest technology or just the somewhat clean technology they were willing to support, but, you know, it's hard to sell it to end users on the basis of getting something different. the cell phone provides better services and a solar resource provides less better services that you can get around in some respects through smart grids, batteries, and this stuff. >> other questions, over here.

i'm max, and. i to turn it back to the focus of the domestic energy policy question. just seven to ten years ago, we were spending millions, looking into developing importation centers for oil and gas fearing there was an energy resource deficiency. now with the development of certain shale, we can export oil and natural gas. some producers want a friendly exportation policy and some manufacturers and producers of goods would like to see exportation and not as abun adapt to keep prices low here and possibly return to a production-based or at least somewhat of a return to production-based economy. now, i'm personally from west virginia where we both have

natural gas and a struggling economy that would love to see some production-based jobs, but -- >> what's the question, prees. >> well, where do you see it going? what policies do you see the most efficient use of that energy? [laughter] >> who wants it? >> i can't speak for exxon-mobil or the federal government. >> i don't think the world bank wants to weigh in; right? >> at exxon-mobil, we are doing both building a chemical plant down in texas to take advantage of the expanded gas supplies and liquid supplies, but we are paired alistening with in a commercial venture where exporting gas is viable. we think the resource basedded is substantial here in the united states and can support a wide range of opportunities. >> thanks, next question. we're short on time, sorry.

>> ken, a jefferson science fellow. i have two questions. actually, the first one is closely related to the last one. i live in north dakota, which is is a booming energy state and when you talk to people in my state, there's an attitude of the sky's the limit in terms of producing oil and natural gas and coal. i'm interested in, for question one, what portion do you really think we can provide strictly from domestic sources? the second question is very different driven by the fact i'm a computer scientist and look at a smart grid and use of smart meters and smart appliances, and dynamic pricing schemes by utilities and instrumenting the grid to bring more efficiency to the grid, and so i'm curious on your take on potential for smart

grid solutions too. >> you think it's -- i find that from using my app to get to find cars, it's amazing how much energy you find just with information. you want to take on question one? >> question one is, is the sky the limit? >> the question is how close the limit it is. [laughter] >> well, you know, there's -- we are starting tomorrow to publish monthly looks at basins that produce oil and gas. i think shale gas is pretty well established oil is coming, not exclusively from shale, but other formations as well, a little bit behind, and i think it's still fairly early in the

game. there's increased production. as someone said about electricity, it's too cheep to meter. will oil be too cheap to meter in north dakota? i doubt it. there's potential for, at least for a while for production to continue to increase. >> i want to squeeze in one more question. >> sure, i'm working for senator coons from delaware. under what sort of economic and political conditions do you think we see the emergence of a significant synthetic fuel production domestically or internationally. >> rob, do you want to take that one? >> i try to stay out of the price environment, but i think the synthetic fuel -- the synthetic fuel area is --

>> coal and converting it into a liquid fuel to put in the car, which is pretty energy intensive; right? >> right. energy intensive and a significant greenhouse gas production footprint depending on how you manage it. biofuels is a great example, an area we're working with plant matter to convert into fuel. it's proving to not be very effective. second generation is expensive, small developments there, not seeing the benefits out of the first generation, and so i think it's going to continue to be an area of good science, a lot of time to be spent looking at it. gas to liquid technology is another alternative, and it's expensive, it is being done on small scale, and there are investments around the world, but it's not a large scale development at this stage. it's going to be an area where technology continues to mature

to bring the costs down. >> i could be more optimistic, strangely enough, my colleague, you know, i don't know if it's gasoline or diesel, but there's interesting ways of producing ethanol from nonoil fossil fuels. again, i agree the synthetic fuel is a -- an expensive proposition. it depends on the price between the fuels. again, back to the issue of how global natural gas markets work out. >> all right. well, i'm afraid we're out of time, but that was a lively discussion. thank you, all, for coming and participating. i appreciate it. [applause] >> there are a lot of stories about slaves and free men of

color who made choices. i was convinced americans were the good guys and british were the bad guys, but the more i worked on this project, i became more and more convinced that as the war came to an end, that it was the americans who were not the good guys. it was instead the british and spanish who were the good guys. the british and the spanish offered freedom to their slaves. the man who served with them, and took them away from this land of bondage, and the americans, well, they will keep slaves until 1865. >> choose, fight for the u.s. or fight with the invading british. saturday night at nine eastern on american history tv this weekend on c-span3.

you're watching c-span2. >> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. we've just concluded an important and productive meeting of the foreign ministers of the friends of syria call group including a meeting with the

president of the syria national coalition. we met, as you know, against the backdrop of the syria regimes escalating use of indiscriminant force against the people of syria using tanks, torture, artillery, scud missiles, air attacks, and presiding over the creation of a humanitarian catastrophe, and we spoke powerfully in the meetings about people under siege, people starving, women and children in detention, and the record of utter abuse and oppression to which the people of syria are subjected. the only sustainable way to end this conflict and suffering of innocent civilians is through a political transition in syria, and the purpose of our meeting is to send a signal of the resolve, our unity, and our

determination in bringing this about building on the diplomatic progress made in the u.n. general assembly last month agreeing a number of important steps today. first, we agree that we would put our united and collective weight behind the u.s.-led process leading to establishing mutual con sense a governing body with powers set a in the communique of june 2012, and by definition, a mutual concept means it's only agreed to with the concept of the syria national coalition. assad would play no role in that future government of syria. second, despite the enormous challenges faced by the syria opposition, we urge the national coalition to commit itself fully to the geneva two process and to lead and form the heart of any

opposition delegation and, third, we agree with them that we will provide in the practical support required to give the best chance of success, and there's a set of principles attached to today's communique which underline the unity to the approach of the process as the friends of syria call group. we agree the syria opposition including moderate armed groups, the moderate opposition represented by the syria national coalition continue to need our strong collective backing. there can be no peaceful and political settlement in syria without the participation of the moderate opposition, and so we pledge our further support for them, and we attended the lunch that concluded, the national

coalition, he made clear in september in new york, and he has to carry others with him, and by the time of the first of november assembly meeting, by the end of next week, he can speak to you about that, and assad has no role in a democratic syria, and they bring areas under siege to those detained are released in geneva, and in any case, we ask the support of other nations in the world including allies and supporters of the regime to bring these things about. the united kingdom continues to support the national coalition in effort to help and protect

the syria people through the more than 20 million pounds and support of opposition we provided this year. this is support that helps to save lives and provide services to the syria population, including search and rescue equipment, training, power generator, communications, support and training to civil administrations. between now and the geneva two conference, we plan to announce a further package of u.k. support including substantial non-lethal support to the national coalition, and we're working with the general of the free syria armies supreme military com, and this assistance is likely to take the form of communications, medical, and logistics equipment to help them save lives on the ground. we have not lost sight in this in the deepening disaster. as winter approaches, risks are growing to nearly 7 million

syria in need compounded by the actions of the regime, and the relief coordinator said yesterday that the u.n. continues to be denied access on the ground to those in need of humanitarian assistancely obstacles placed by the syria regime. in suburbing the damascus, many innocent are trapped as a result of the regime's siege tactics. this is unacceptable and full and uninhibited access for humanitarian aide to people in need must be allowed. we have intensified in recent weeks, as you know, humanitarian support including from the 11 countries that met today, and we encourage others to do the same through further funding pledges, and we will be pressing the case for humanitarian access as call for by the u.n. security counsel on the second of october. the u.k. is the second largest humanitarian donor to syria, conflict to over 5 million pounds of aide allocated to

date. yesterday, we announced a further 15.5 million pounds of life saving support to palestinian refugees inside syria and in neighboring countries including food for over 150,000 people and clothing for people in need of urgent help. the 11 countries will continue to work closely together in the weeks leading up to the conference to ensure there's the best possible chance of success, and that the people of syria get the political transition they need and so very much deserve. thank you very much indeed. we have time for a few questions? [inaudible conversations] >>ives struck by what you said this morning that they don't have the role in the talks, and they are just left with assad or the extremists. you, yourself, just said that the national coalition spoke of assad's record of utter abuse and oppression, so failure is

high, success slim, and you're seriously saying the syria people are left with a brutal dictator or a bunch of jihadists? >> that's what we have to avoid, of course. that is the case for backing, for assisting the syria national coalition who have been meeting today who are a moderate opposition, who are committed to democracy, sectarianism, committed to a peaceful future for all communities in syria, and really what i was arguing this morning is that you can't have a peaceful solution, a political settlement in syria without a big role for people like that who believe in a non seq. tearian syria. that's why it's important to try to convene a peace conference, a peace process in a conflict that

is still worsening and that is feeding extremism, sectarianism and extremism grow all the time this cop flick goes on, and that's why it's important we work so closely with them that we don't abandon them and keep face with them, and the 11 countries involved, incoming the united states, turkey, leading arab states, france, have made very clear to them today, we'll be with them every step of the way giving support they need as well as the support necessary to carry out the sogs. next we. >> your concept agrees with the coalition, assad can play no role, but you know the russians, iranians, and syria's government

definition of mutual consent is he can play a role, and so aren't you setting a precondition to geneva, and why would the three countries i named go if it was a precondition. we are making clear the expectation of the outcomes. it's not a precondition. the only condition is referred to in the communique, and we made it clear in the to be working on the communication for the 30th of june 2012, very clear in creating a transitional governing body with full executive powers drawn from regime and opposition by mutual concept, and when implemented

means what it says. it means they are there from regime and opposition are there by concept of the others, and now that very clear is what that means for a future role for assad, but accepting that, the regime's acceptance of that or russian's acceptance of that is not a precondition of convening a meeting. next question. >> [inaudible] >> have you mooninged to make progress today on the agenda for geneva 2? suspect one of the problems that if talks are a big part of that, since president assad made clear as recently as yesterday he has no intention of going in, and wants to go up for presidential election, isn't there fundmental inherent problem with that kind of structure for those talks?

>> i don't want to minimize the difficulties and enormous challenges in making a success of geneva two, and your questions are all reflecting the immense difficulties that would be involved. there needs to be the political process, and the most important agreement made on syria is that agreement in geneva in june last year. that is commonground for all the permanent members of the security council including russia and china, and so building on that with a -- through a process, a u.n.-led process, yes, may be a difficult process, but it's a process rather than an event.

it's not a meeting that takes place for one or two days and everybody reaches agreement. it's the beginning of a process. that is very important to try because the alternative is for a more projected contract which neither side would be able to achieve a complete military victory over the others so there will have to be a political settlement one day. difficult to bring about? yes, it would. we mentioned in new york that we would all do our best to convene such a conference, working with the u.n. secretary general, and special representatives, and so this meeting today is part of that there are three members with the close friends and allies doing our best to make sure such a conference takes

place, that we should be under no illusions on what a very difficult process it will be. >> [inaudible] >> one more question. >> [inaudible] >> the saudis seem to be losing patience. are you worried that in the context, in that attempt with iran, that the saudis walk away, and that the coalition you have of the friends of syria fall apart as a result? >> well, the communique just published is authored by all is 11 countries including saudi arabia, and it's important that it is a communique, a text fully agreed by the 11 members, not just a statement from the chair, but an agreed communique of the 11 foreign ministers, and the meeting has been attenned by my

colleague and his royal highness, sitting next to john kerry throughout the meeting, and so there was no limiting of contact between saudi arabia and the united states and the meetings we got today very much say the same things, and so this statement has the full agreement just as it has with the united states and other countries involved. you'll hear later in the room from john kerry and the president of the national coalition, they will expand further on this. thank you very much, indeed. [inaudible conversations] >> i think that women are getting a very complex message. we're in the middle of a sociological lev riewtion. young women are told they have have a great career, be great mothers, be thin, be good

looking, manage the house well, and there's a sense of entitlement, i can do everything a young man does including having a glass of wine or two after work, drinking to wine down, and women tend to medicate dmetion and anxiety and loneliness. there's a lot of anxiety in this generation in terms of how do i manage it all, and so when we look at who is drinking the most, we're seeing the professional woman, the educatedded woman, and i don't think this is what gloria had in mind. >> anne johnston on the closing gender gap in the world of risky drinking sunday night at nine eastern and pacific on "after words," part of booktv this weekend on c-span2. plus, online in the booktv book club, read "walking with the wind" by john louis, and see what others say and post your comments. find out more at

booktv.org/bookclub. >> held a forum in the district today on women in the economy. she was joined by her minority leader, nancy pelosi and barbara my culls ky. some of the issues discussed were minimum wage and child care. the first baptist church in maryland, this is just over an hour.

>> wow, wow, good morning! good morning, so i'm congresswoman donna ed words, and i represent maryland's 4th congressional district. welcome to the fourth district. [applause] >> i'm delighted, one to see this packed house, and it was not difficult to do with all of the work that we do around the community and in the region, and around the most wonderful women found anywhere. thank you very much for joining us today. i have the privilege of representing this congressional district in representing a state that the seventh r for american process said is the number one state for women in the country.

now, of course, we take great pride in that, but we have a lot of work to do. i'm honored, really honored to be here today with our senior senator, our mentor, our friend, our senator barb, senator barbaramy cull ski, and most delighted to welcome somebody who is not a stringer either to prince george's county or the fourth district, our democratic leader, nancy pelosi. [applause] >> i want to take a special moment to thank even in the absence pass sore jeep kins, sr. and the community here -- i almost said my church, at first baptist church and the christian academy. we had a chance to do a tour of

the economy and see some of the amazing learning that's happening at the earliest age here at the academy, and it's our delight to be here and share that with the first baptist, and to know you're such a truly great partners in the community on a whole range of things, and at this church you don't view what you do inside the walls, but you say that your service a outside the walls of the church, and that shows in the academy and the faces and the energy of those young people. i also want to acknowledge, and i see them, so much elected officials from the region, and i want to take a minute to acknowledge them and to know that we're just really delighted that you also could join us because whether you're mayors or representing the county or

statewide, you understand the importance of the work that we're engage in together, and so i want to recognize our state's attorney in prince george's county. [applause] my dear friend, car men walker brown, remitting lieutenant governor anthony brown here today. welcome, carmen. [applause] delegate braveboy who represents the 25th legislative district in the maryland house of delegates and is the chair of the legislative black caucus. [applause] the clerk of the circuit court here, thank you, marilyn, for joining us. [applause]

delegate miller, also from month come ri county. my friend's sister and soul mate and childhood friend, valerie irvin, a member of the montgomery county council. [applause] mayor of the tremendous city, energy of forest heights here in maryland. [applause] i don't think i missed anyone. thank you very much for joining us. when leader pelosi got together with with the democratic working group, i chaired the group, and that the women members of the house of representatives and we talked with each other and among us and with our allies out in the community and running grassroots organizations about

what was needed in this next step to fulfill a true economic agenda for women, and we knew if we could formulate the agenda, we know when women skeed, america scedz, and at the core of that success, there's things that many of us have worked on in different pieces over the years, but we wanted to put them together, and so visiting these 4-year-olds and 3-year-olds here today and seeing their energy reminded us of the importance of investing in early learning, investing in quality, affordable, and accessible child care. there's not a one of us in this room who doesn't have an experience that we can recount about child care. ..

the leader and i know in the house of representatives that we

get the paid the same as our male counter parts. so we also know that our sisters and friends and women around the country don't have that same experience. and the importance -- can you imagine what a family loses when they lose 25% of their income because one family member is not paid equal to their counter parts at work. and then, of course, a significant, you know, part of this agenda that when we struggle as care givers whether it's caring for our ourselves, our family member, our children. we may need to take a day off. if we're not paid for that day off. can you imagine the decision so you to make. i know, i had to make it as a young near just either go work sick or take my kid to work with me sick. curl them up in a corner. i've done it before in a room while i have a meeting because i can't afford take off. and i couldn't afford to stay home with him. and these are the struggles that mothers face --

mothers, families face all around this country. i'm glad you've been able to join us today. because we know if we make an investment in in agendas a tennessee an investment that require the grassroots report of leaders like yourself through our community so we can make it a reality for women and families. and so i want to thank you, again, for being here because this is about improving a live of women and families. and the health of our nation's economy. because when you do invest in women in this kind of way, that we invest in the economic success and health of our country. and so i would like to have you join me in welcoming some folks who are representatives, frankly, a lot of stories that can be told, really, throughout our communities. i want to welcome to the microphone a good friend of ours and a real leader who is in montgomery county.

she's originally from egypt. she's been a resident for 40 years. she owns and operates three child care centers. and what an amazing progressive woman she provides paid sick leave for her employees. i would like to do you welcome -- you to welcome her. -- [applause] so she can tell us why and what it means. mimi? >> good afternoon. [laughter] yeah. [laughter] yeah. that is better. aye! [laughter] thank you very much. thank you. i'm all about empowered women. let all the time get our wings and fly! [applause] so yes, my name is mimi, i do

own three child cares. and i have a story to share with you. it is an investment. you are absolutely right. affordable child care can happen. okay. i have in my child care, i offer my staff a sick paid leave. the reason i do that the teacher come to the child care and she's sick she's going get the kids sick. it's going to cost me money. if you think about business, it's going cost me more money if i don't get her the sick day leave. i offer sick day leave for all of my staff. also, what breaks me heart, i have seen it on a daily basis. okay. we have a policy at our daycare. children have to be free 24-hours of fever. if your child has a fever, he cannot be attending the school for 24 hours. it breaks my heart when i see children coming in to the school in the morning and coming to me and telling me, miss mimi can

you take care of me? my mom has to go to work. and i'm sick. you know what the parents do? they give their child tylenol for hours so they can go work then they get a call, hi, your child is sick. you need to come and pick them up. what happened this time. the child is contagious. the germs spread. so the diseases infect. you hear about child care or schools sometimes they close. why? because the child is sick. and they go school -- they go to school. so i'm here all to tell you it could be done. i'm in business. nobody gets in business to lose money; right? you know. [laughter] so even though i am a big day leave for staff. i'm still making money. it could be done. it could happen. so i wish that we can work out together. also when it comes to subsidize

money. i have parents who cannot afford to pay the copay. okay. they cannot match. what i do, i offer them a scholarship. maybe i'm an exceptional. okay maybe i have a good heart. okay. but how can i have -- how can i get a message to every child care business to all the state government, so everybody who is involved in this to help this industry, to help those parents. we have all womans working. remember, we're going to be empowered! i'm here e to tell you please help us. everybody in this. it's an investment. you need to invest money to get the results. thank you very much. i look forward to seeing you. [applause] >> thank you. i don't need the stool. i'm going to stand back a little bit. [laughter]

senator mikulski, i heard it. [laughter] i want to take a moment to introduce our next guest, mao rein evans arthur graduated in may >> from the university of maryland with a ba and gender studies and political science. she was the first generation college student that went back too school after being a state at home mom for two years. she this to engage in some important financial considerations. pay the tuition or pay the daycare. so i would like that welcome the stage maureen evans arthur. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. so as congressman edwards said. in may i became the first person in my family to attend college. [applause] thank you.

but it wasn't necessarily easy and almost didn't happen because of the extremely high cost of child care. so today i stand before you not only as a research fellow, but also as a mother of a 7-year-old boy named noah. as he stated the first two years of my life i have a stay-at-home mom. when i decided it was time to go back to school. i applied, rights letters, and essentially just went through the same process we all remember. but then i had to look at child care. and so i went not one, two, but eight daycare providers where i live in howard connecticut. and the average cost was $1100 per month. and with the matt -- math that ends up being over $13 ,000 a year. i was really torn. my husband and i. but i felt lucky we only had one

child when tons of my friend had multiples. and i was also lucky he was 24-months old and considered a toddler and not an infant. infant care, as many of you might know is $3 to $400 more expensive than the $1100 they quoted me. and so soon i felt myself asking do i even go school or do i continue to be a stay-at home-mom until he's school age. for him, because he had a late october birthday wouldn't be until he was 6 instead of 5. so it was very difficult. we said we can't afford child care on our own. and as a nontraditional student, i received a combination of merit-based loans. so i should not have had -- i essentially got free tuition as well. and so i shouldn't have graduated with my student loans whatsoever. i ended up have to take out almost $30,000 of student loans in order to subsidize child care costs in what we couldn't afford.

i also feel like i'm lucky. i've been out of school for six months and starting to apply for graduate school. in the process, my husband and i have to factor in the loan repayment to the already-packed family budget. because affordable child care are ?an mouse. we originally enrolled my son in -- i guess you call it a sub par child care agency that was about $600 less a money and within three weeks he had monopoly. he was rushed to the hospital with 1095 degree fever. and instantly i said, you know, we have to pay the cost. it's not worth my son's life, and the stress. that the point, i actually thought i'm done. i'm not going do school. it wasn't to be. my husband pushed me to do it. and we ended uptaking out student loans. and i actually feel like i lucked out with only $30,000 with student loan debt. [laughter] three quarters of which was because of child care. i was lucky i had to pay it for two and a half years as opposed

to four years. my son was old enough to eventually attend a preschool that aligned with my schedule. i was able to pick him up and go to class when he didn't have to be in child care. honestly, if my son was any younger and we had to pay the infant prices i probably wouldn't have gone back to school. understanding the cost associated with child care remains one of the reasons why my husband and i will not be expanded our family. which is unfortunate. and too many smart and extremely motivated women end up having to forgo an education or leave a fulfilling career in order make the sacrifices fir their children. and so that's why i and millions of other families like mine really need the women's economic agenda to make sure that these choices back thing of the past. so thank you very much for having me. [applause]

thank you very much. when you hear stories like that we have to do. it we have to do if differently. and next to the stage, i want to welcome -- a 37 year resident of maryland who was fired after a pregnancy-related incident bay small employer. she was not covered by the federal family and medical leave act. and a new labor department study shows that neither are 40% of the u.s. work force. [applause] thank you. for inviting me today. it's a honor to be here. i live in howard county, maryland. i'm here today because in june of 2010 i almost died during childbirth. it's not the 19th century.

the truth is dangers surrounding pregnancy and childbirth exist. fortunately me and my family thanks to expert medical care i survived my daughter dis-- it was a traumatic time for my family. it started when the daughter arrived unexpectly a full eight weeks early. in order to save our lives i had to a c section and an emergency history history recollect my thursday living my ability to -- painful recovery. for me and my daughter. i was eventually dangered from the hospital. she to spend 28 dais in the nicu. having to leave her was the hardest thing ever. we had jobs at the time and planned for this new child but the added and unexpected expense of early delivery and lengthy hospital stay as well as being not able to work put a tremendous financial and emotional burden on our family.

that brings me to the reason i'm speaking here today. because amid the chaos and the challenges facing us -- my position is safe i lost the part-time job i loved. it was perfectly legal due to gap in the fmla, our nation's only federal law designed to help people and family during serious emergencies and circumstance like. have been able to take unpaid time off and keep their job when health crises arise. it's been two decades like i was a significant portion of the work force is not covered bit protections. that's why i'm so excited that the congressional leaders here today are working with others in congress on new proposals designed to support families when they are out of work for pregnancy, childbirth, or take care of ill family members.

having to take the time off can cause huge financial strain for families. it did for my family. i was able to find a new job. the time i spent out of work for recovery and job searching resulted in a rough couple of years financially for my family. we were fortunate to have family and friend support. many people are not lucky. i decided to speak up and share my story. to be a voice for women who may not have one or hopefully inspire others to share their stories and get involved. no woman or man should have to worry about financial security when serious medical i issues arrive for complications for themselves or family members. it's long past time for paid family and medical leave. stories like mine span the country and it shouldn't be that way. thank you very much. [applause] thank you very much. -- sometimes you can skip lines. i didn't -- i wanted to make sure that we

could hear from our guest here who really shared their stories and their own experiences, which are repeated all across this country. there's not been a greater fighter not just in maryland but all across the country for women. we get to call her our own. senator barbara mikulski elected to the united senate in 1986. chef the first democratic woman elected on her own right and in her own right. [applause] we had the great privilege of being able to celebrate senator mikulski as the longest serving woman elected in her own right in the united states. [applause] these cay we -- these days we like to say she's the chair of the powerful senate

appropriations committee. we like to say that in maryland. [applause] [laughter] she a champion of women. she is the dean of the women in the senate. she's a mentor for women in the senate, a mentor for women in the house. she truly does are inture us. you can tell that senator mikulski, when i first met her, the first shinning she shared with me was not the other stuff. she shared with me she was a social worker. i think it's fundamental to the way she thinks about the needs of women and families and all of our communities automatic across the country. that's the kind of leadership that she brings in the senate. she will tell you, but i'll do it too that when the lily fair pay act was signed in to law, the first law signed by newly sworn president barack obama, it was senator mikulski who lead the fight in the senate. our leader who lead the fight in

the house. [applause] and so please join me in welcoming our great favorite senator, senator barb. [applause] >> good morning, everybody. i'm delighted to be here at this forum on making sure that america's children are taking care of in the best child care program that the world can offer. and shouldn't a great country be able to do that? [applause] and you know what? for me, it's just a delight to get through the last 17 days that we lifed -- lived through of slam down, shut down politics and to be here with this wonderful turbo team

of donna edwards and speaker pelosi working on real issues that the american families have that we can come up with real solutions. this is what i'm so delighted to be here. you know, during the last several days there's been a lot of focus on obamacare. obamacare does care. that's what we're going it talk about here today. and then it's going to be what can we afford? well, dear friends, somehow or another we can support war. now it's time that we start taking care of the needs of the american people! and begin to fill our country again. [applause] i'm so pleased to be the dean and honor to be the dean of the women in the united states senate. that means i'm the longest serving. friends, it's not how long you serve, but it's how well you

serve that makes the difference. [applause] we want to extend our hand and friendship and our craft and no-how at every assignment and committee assignment to move an agenda forward to really help american families. now we, the women of the senate, joining with our college, we work on the macro issues! yes. big budget, big foreign -- policy. we work on the mac and cheese issues. we talk about what is happening at the kitchen table. what are families talking about. what are they trying to sort out? the source of conversation these three women had. to go to school not to go to

school. the stress is on the families. she worked for me. she worked for me many years ago. [laughter] i was taller, she was shorter. [laughter] knew here she is the executive director of a hospice program and look at what she's been through. we've got to focus on the mac and cheese issues and that's how we'll impact the macro issues of our country. we need to focus on our families. to come up with this agenda. and we know what the agenda is because we talk with you. we've met with you. we've listened to you.

and we know that for the american women and american families first of all, the most important thing in addition to love you need an income. [laughter] you need an income that is reliable, that is predictable, and means that you can have a living wage. this comes to why we've got raise the minimum wage in our country. [applause] and we have to make sure that equal pay for equal work. many of you might say, senator, didn't we take care of that? well, it overturned a supreme court decision that had time limits on when you can bring to suit. but we're for something called paycheck fairness. which means when you bring a suit, you're not going to be harassed. and that you have a right to know what the person standing next to you is paid!

most women don't know who -- what the guys are making! it's not that they don't want to tell you. they'll be fired if they try to be a pal and partner to you. we want to finish the job we began and we want to make sure that we pass paycheck fairness. so we truly have equal pay for equal work and you can pursue that agenda in your workplace. that is number one. number two, we believe when you work you should have the confidence you're going have health care. and this is why we supported the affordable care act. we believe in the affordable care act because all of us know as we work, as we were out there in the community listening to you, particularly listening to the four faces like this that the fact is that for just being a woman was viewed as a

preexisting condition and they looked for every excuse they could find to take your health care away from you! and we said, hell no! our mammograms won't go, and our health care won't go. being a woman in america will no longer be counted as a preexisting condition! [applause] he said she wants to repeal it and replace it. i say we will never turn back that being a woman in the united states of america will no longer be regarded as a preexisting

condition. there's the third issue which is education. education is not only k through 12 which we see the wonderful academy we had here and our public schools and great public schoolteachers. but education begins from hour one. from day one, from week one. that's where we come to child care that is available, affordable, safe, and also educational. we're not talking about warehousing our children. we're talking about take care of our children. it's called child care, child education. and that's why we want to really focus on expanding the opportunities to make child care more available, more affordable, definitely safe, and have quality standards where those children have the opportunity to be able to learn and to be

regular school ready. that's what we're working on. in the senate i'm taking the lead on the child care. one of the first things we want to do is make sure in the tax debate we keep the child care tax credit! we need to keep the child care tax credit or you can take up the $3,000 a year as a tax break on for child care. now, if we can get tax breaks to send jobs overseas, we can give tax breaks to american families to be able to afford child care! [applause] let's keep the child care tax credit! [applause] then for those women who were looking to move ahead in life, that when we look there we also want to reauthorize the community development child care block grant. that's where i've taken the lead in the senate and forged bipartisan -- we want to pick it up in the

house. the child care block grant is the primary federal grant program to involve child care assistance for working families. it was last reauthorized in 1996. in fact every major program helping families and children was turned under the clinton administration nothing has happened since then. now it's the barack obama generation leadership to make we want to move it forward. nothing new has been done since 1996. we're putting together to refresh, reform. that is what was on the agenda

in the senate. we have already moved it through the health education committee. i've had to support of true -- of the republicans. there are -- you should note, real republicans who are compassionate conservatives. you remember that phase? there are those. i find them -- seek and you shall find. and so our agenda in the senate to join with our sisters in the house to work in common cause on their agenda on the agenda they put together and to be able to move this forward. so we want to be sure that in all of the debate that when all was said and done more gets said. often more gets said than done but now it's time to do the job. and you know when you have an easy job, you know who to give it to. when you have a tough job, give it to the women and we'll get it done. may the force be with us.

[applause] [laughter] [applause] that's right. you can hear the idea of an democratic agenda for women that really envisions quality affordable, and assessable child care that envisions equal pay for equal work. raising the money -- minimum wage.

former speaker going to be speaker again, nancy pelosi. good morning. when i was inducted last weekend i was following the footstep of a longest serving woman in congress. the people were flilled when women came to the stage. the woman joining us. so much has been said already about when women succeed america succeeds.

the person stories are the strongest. the strongest testimonies we can have in the evidence upon which we want to base our policy. to do so with all of you here, under the offices of qualm donna edwards is an honor indeed. to be joined by so many of the region is an honor as well. thank you for honoring us with your presence and blessing the community with your leadership and service. we predicate our priorities.

the and they are receiving was remarkable in the christian academy. the extraordinary. here is the thing. the beginning of the congress with now had passed the affordable care act. trying to work on the implementation of it. i'm going back to last january. and we said what is it we can do to change the environment for women so that it's no longer a matter of incremental of doing a little bit better. it's about doing something very doircht unleash the full power of women. when we first won the house in '06 in the senate then, we were thinking about survival of people because the congresswoman bash raid so much had not been

done for a years. it's about survival. when president obama became president it was about success. about taking people to a higher level. then we were on the mission to have to be not only survival but success but about trap formation. to take people to another height. that anything marine you decided to do. mimi the women you see and daniel. anything is possible for you. i heart harkin back to the founders. 165 years. we decided what would these particular issues be? so we had a series of meetings around the country east coast, west coast, and everything in between to hear what it would it be? we had done the affordable care act as the senator said no longer being a woman. preexisting medical conditions. remarkable. then the violence against women

accomplished in a bipartisan way. that was important. but we were just focusing on the workplace. just specifically through many item on the agenda we were want to priorize. what could transform the respect for work of women in the workplace. we must increase the minimum wage. we did it the first 100 hour when we had the majority in the house and senate. we raised minimum wage. it's time to raise it again. it's overdue. raise the minimum wage. lead on paycheck fairness act.

it's about it. imagine we make -- many part of the country we make 77% of what men make for the same job, same time work. that's like saying you with work from january, february, march for free compared to your male counter part. it's just not right. it's just not right. and we have to pass -- we had a president to sign it. he wanted it to be beautiful and signature issue for him as it was great. but as the senator said, it's about what recourse you have. it's not about establishing that you should by law have the pay. and then so we have -- paycheck fairness in the house and senate.

congresswoman has been leader on the subject and many subjects and senator mikulski sponsor in the senate -- not sponsor but champion. then paid leave. it's been said that family medical leave was a great thing. twenty years ago, remember, senator, was one of the first bills that president clinton signed. we've been working on it for awhile. we had a president first bill he signed it was twenty years ago. and as has been said for a percent of women in the workplace not qualify -- they don't qualify the businesses are not large enough to cover. yo have to have paid leave. maybe not the full length of time. but some paid leave. we have that legislation. healthy families act. these are possible. we have the bills it's just a

decision. we're glad to see so many leaders on the issues here today. automatic of you! the third is the child care. the child care issue, in my view is the most transformative. we talk about being inducted in the hall of fame and the rest. that the time, 16 years ago these women imagine the cowrnlgt they had to declare that all men and women are created equal. and as such they demand to have i call stations to which we are entitled, they said.

rosy was revolutionary during the war. we have women in the workplace and higher education of women have a choice to stay home. the missing link throughout the while time was affordable, quality child care really to enable women. to unleash their power for themselves, for their families for our economy. it's really important. on the subject and the senator talked about the block grant and the tax credit. that's important. we also have to go use that as a basis and go further. as we said, we have to go further. family medical leave we have to

go further. child grants and the tax credit we have to go further. it was on president nixon's desk when he was president and vetoed it for social and cultural reasons oring? like that. whatever it was. some guy probably decided that. [laughter] i don't know. nonetheless -- now it's a long time ago. in is our mission. we must have -- this is the most transformative thing we can do for not only women and their families but men and their families as for our economy. we hear it all over the country. one woman we invited she got up there and she was telling her story how she went to a single mom, this, this, got a job. and the success stories. she said let me tell you what i

think in my job. i'm a bus driver. a school bus driver. i see kids -- i pull up to the stop and know what is going to happen. there are a mom in the tears with the eyes putting a child on the bus she knows is sick. but has no alternative. she has no -- if she's called -- she -- not go to work she'll be dock decade of pay which she can't afford. you do more than a couple of times pretty soon you don't have a job. you can't be counted on. we have a different view. she can't afford the child care and has no paid sick leave. she has no alternative. you know the story. you know the story. then you hear stories of a mom a woman young woman pregnant. she's working and has to do heavy lifting.

pulls a muscle whatever. the doctor said ask your boss if you can do another work for the next few months. the boss said you don't have to liftinganything anymore because you don't have a job. it happens in the greatest country that ever existed. but you know what? we're going to change that. we're going to change that we're going to mobilize and bond across the country fop cuss on a few things and stipulate some facts that the senator referenced. when you educate children you're doing so much. this is the key to everything for our country. and so head start, our motto in san francisco in head start parents, children learning parents earning. so when you cut head start in order to reduce a deficit you were -- the children will losing, the teachers of the children are losing. the parents of the children are losing. they can some of them no longer work. and i'll tell you this.

remember this, nothing brings more money to the treasury than the education of the american people. with stiff competition, mind you. one of the dumbest suggestions they can make. okay. [applause] let talk some more about some of these things as we go along. understanding that these are not -- these are increasing the deficits. increasing the deficits. i'll just close by saying this one story that i heard a couple of weeks ago in new york when we had the gathering such as this. a mom -- just -- [inaudible] one story. okay. this woman a young woman get thereupon. she has five kids.

hispanic woman, i english second language. every challenge and beautiful resource. some would consider it a challenge. we thought they were resources. she gets up and tells a story she got a job and this and now a supervisor. she was giving testimony at the hearing as we heard from mimi and daniel. she said, i'm so confident now when i wasn't confident about becoming before the add yen. i practiced on my children last night. the 4-year-old who was in head start she was making the pitch for head start. she said i gave my speech and side to the children. what do you think? do you have any questions my 4-year-old in head start said i have one question, mom. who gave you permission to use my name in your speech. [laughter] you go, girl! about self-est teem. children learning about being

ready for the future it's about the children as senator mic -- mikulski said in her remarks. thank you very much! [applause] thank you for your leadership and being here today. thank you! [applause] [cheering and applause] a she makes her way out of the room. i didn't know if there were any questions. what i want to hear from everybody is that you're ready to work on this. are we ready to work on this? [cheering and applause]

couldn't be more perfect timing. on saturday, here the women's commission -- i know will are epts here. we're going have how many 500 women? right. 700 women who are going to be at our women's commission meeting talking about these issues on saturday. and so the women who were here in the room goat take this message out to them. and so thank you very much. i'm looking here. i know, it's going to happen; right? excellent! and so are there maybe we have a chance for a couple of questions? yes, ma'am? [inaudible] >> good afternoon. my name is -- [inaudible] i'm the president and founder of all the love, which seeks to raise awareness about autism and the importance of early

detection. in the african-american and hispanic communities, african-american children and hispanic children have the highest number of autism-related cases reported in the united states. so as you move forward in your agenda, i hope and pray you don't forget about the mom who has a child with special needs. because most of the time -- these are all issues that are important. but the mother who has a child with autism or disability is left out. they're discriminated against because the daycare can't accommodate -- i'm sorry they can't accommodate the children who have the disabilities. i don't know what can be done. i'm determined not give up the fight. and i don't mean to hog up the

time, but i want to say that i had an opportunity to travel to new york this past weekend go and support that mom who is missing the nonverbal autistic child, van -- virginia -- i i'm not helping a person or woman in need. so please keep that family in your prayers. please let me know if there is anything i can do. i'm committed to helping women and empowering women. thank you. [applause] >> thank you for sharing that. i think that part of what you hear as well is the importance of having, you know, when we say quality and fordable and assessable child care that has to be all children. i think all of us in the room have to em brailings --

em ways that notion so we understand what it is we're fighting for. in the 0 another cay is it my be a child with other kinds of needs and it doesn't mean that those children, you know, can't learn and parents can't be supported. but we have to make sure we understand what we mean about affordable, assessable, child care. our conversation either at the zipper table, together, or on the phone. what are you doing with children? and the autism issue has

expanded a number of children. we always want to put them in the forefront. they fall to a couple of categories. of course child care but affordable care act. and now the children and the preexisting medical condition be a barrier receiving the health care they need. we have to have the sensitivity, the special needs they have. and we have to respect them for who they are. and what they can do and not judge them for what they cannot. this is the spirit that we bring to that and thank you for sharing your passion, your love on this subject. it's really important our country. there are tens of millions of family that are affected this way. our judgment will be how we meet the challenge. thank you. [applause] we have time for one or two more

questions. [inaudible conversations] >> thank you, again, congresswoman and our leader miss pelosi. we know that the wonderful president had a global, if you will, town hall meeting where people logged in it was an effort to allowed many groups such as this organize events to log in and have a discussion, which included states across our wonderful united states. to engage in this and allow the movement to grow across our wonderful united states.

if we can look to see how we can put together a forum of events that would take place and include everyone throughout the united states log in and question all engage and move in a very powerful way forward. >> well, as originally we had a children's summit a few years ago then try address some of the issues that sprang from that under some people coming to d.c. who were had constituency. in other words they headed up an organization or this or that. then we talked about affordable care act. sop of the things that stray from that. i had one on friday. i went home for a day to california to do that. we're talking about putting something together in d.c. but to do it as you scribe globally. because of the visibility what

we're doing. i don't mean to take credit. i'm sure we're thinking it anyway. the white house is going to be putting something together springing from some of this. if they take the lead, of course, that will be even better. one of the reason do this we want a change in policy. the other is to give people hope. most people who are struggling have no idea that people are fighting for them in washington, d.c. they think nobody is even paying attention. they're trying to do two or three job. they're not reading the policy pages. when they do what do they see? they're not young people talk a lot about what it's central core to strength of our country. and so that is another reason to have it be highly visible. we wanted to know what we were talking about. we wanted to hear from people. it wasn't something we conceived. it was something that came from the conversation. so that's why these first

meetings have been so valuable to us about women making this. we barely had not even heard about people taking out student loans to pay are if the child care. there was a whole different take on that for us. and that is really important. so listen you learn. and i think what -- we planned to do that. we would like for the white house to do it and maybe we do both. you know, we'll see what the timing is on it. but thank you for that suggestion. but understand the role that congresswoman donna edwards plays in this. i thank you for sending her to the congress. she's been pivotal on it. you know? she hears an idea, she acts upon it. she acts -- she's -- [applause] she comes with great value concerned about everyone. she has a vision about a fair america which is really where people have opportunity and that

has been part of her life's work. you also know that she's mart. she snows these issues and she listens to either confirm or not deny enhance whatever it is. and she has planned to get things done. i know you respect her. i want to know it's shared by you in the congress on the united states of america on both sides of the aisle. [applause] >> thank you. thank you, leader pelosi.

you remind me as we close up and take one more question. early on when we began to launch we were using some of our allied organizations to begin to get the word out. so we did google chat and we've done, you know, twitter conversations and things like that. and i think that what you have shared with us though is an idea of even in our community here how we can take it more broadly and so i think leader, you're right, even adds you -- as you were talking i'm ticking off ways question act on the suggestion. because i think it's a really good one. [laughter] and that now we have this room gathered here. each one of know another 20 people. we have thousand out there. it's a message that really can be spread, you know, broadly. we can get something done. >> and work with our state and local officials to be able to do that. >> one last question.

>> thank you very much. >> speaker of the house, i guess i'm getting ahead of myself. thank you very much for the great work you're doing, congressman pelosi and donna edwards. i want to mention the fact, again, this coming saturday we're going the county commission for women the community college will be hosting a forum to deal with all of the issue you highlighted today. and we're excited about the goal of the forum, to engage women in the legislative process and just connect with the issues on education, safety, and health. t called women en-- engaged empowered and educate. we're excited about it. there are fliers on the table. please join us this coming saturday as we really do bring awareness to the issues that you guys are discussed. thank you very much. >> that's so wonderful! [applause] that combination of that sweer action that you will have this there and we're talking about

technologically. i have on the phone just a couple of -- we had 26,000 people on the fop. to thank them for what they were doing to end the shut down. that was only our east coast call. then we had the west coast call. it was tens of thousands of more people. so the technology of today will enable us to get this mission accomplished when we taunt affordable, child care. children learning, parents herb -- earning. donna talks about how different it is when they have a head start with preschool and going on. this is back to amy's point. it's about the competitiveness of the united states economy. the investment in education. the education -- investing reduces the deficit, grows our economy, so although we're doing it because it's the

right thing to do for individual aspiration, it has an impact on our economy. and when it's women the focus is women even more so. since we're in church i'm going close by saying i was visiting my daughter in -- [laughter] in texas and the one that is -- she's a tea party -- teach of children with special needs. we're in church and we're a conservative -- and anyway a packed house catholic church sunday morning 9:00 and the priest gave a beautiful sermon. he said what i want to take from today is just not necessary for do you come here. it's not all right for you come here and pray on sunday and leave here and pray on -- prey on other people during the week. i thought, wow. come to our debates on food stamp, maybe the rest of that. so there's a debate going on

that we want to fully engaged in to bring their intellectual and public service experience to. but also to give hope so many women in the struggle trying to raise their families or have their own reach their own aspiration. it goes wack back, again, to the founders, life, this is about the affordable care act too. life, a healthy life, liberty, to pursue your happiness. ..

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